


For You Were Once Darkness

by ofiutt



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Ancient Greek Religion & Lore Fusion, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, Hades!Zuko, Kissing, M/M, Persephone!Aang, Slow Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-26
Updated: 2020-10-04
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:42:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,394
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26664628
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ofiutt/pseuds/ofiutt
Summary: One of the nymphs splashed a paltry wave of freshwater towards the boy who reacted in a shriek before emanating an attack of his own. “Geez, Aang!” The exclamation had evoked Zuko to open his eyes and perk his head up behind the trunk of a tree from which he leaned against, distantly peering over his opposing side of the stream.
Relationships: Aang/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 18
Kudos: 83





	1. Chapter 1

Aang ran upon blades of grass that resided along the stream in which naiads laughed and frolicked, screaming playfully when the young deity leaped into the river with them. He was personally celebrating the permission his mother had recently granted him to finally visit the foreign mortal realm of- what’s it called again? Earth? No matter. The God of Spring simply felt the need to gain more knowledge of the environment in which humans have cultivated for themselves. After all, how could Aang possess the dominion of such territories if he hadn’t seen any vegetation for himself?

One of the nymphs splashed a paltry wave of freshwater towards the boy who reacted in a shriek before emanating an attack of his own. “Geez, Aang!” The exclamation had evoked Zuko to open his eyes and perk his head up behind the trunk of a tree from which he leaned against, distantly peering over his opposing side of the stream.

A series of chortles and tittered giggles escaped the mouths of what seemed to be various nymphs (presumably naiads as they were inhabiting a river) and one particularly lithe boy that had climbed onto shore. He obviously wasn’t a mortal; his acquaintance with such deities deemed him too erudite for a mere human. Not only that, but he was _beautiful_. Almost bewitchingly so. The boy’s occasional bursts of hearty laughter and spry, young voice alone practically veiled the presence of the sylphs behind him. A wide grin was apparent on his face as he twisted the hem of his shawl to exude any water that had soaked it.

Zuko’s stomach felt as if it had been invaded with butterflies (a quite embarrassing idiom for the God of Death himself to be subjected under) and he couldn’t find it in himself to avert his gaze. Eventually, he gathered up the self-control to sheathe himself from the possibility of being seen and had engrossed the boy’s name into his memory.

-

“Is she a nymph by any chance?” Azula halfway mumbled, scratching the back of a fingernail with that of her thumb before glancing back to her brother and faintly smirking. “...No,” the latter avered, an indignant snarl forming across his face. _Heh_. “His name is Aang.” His expression softened a bit and his head was turned to the side.

Azula’s smirk widened to a malicious grin as she detached her palm from her cheek and stood up from the throne, keenly approaching Zuko in quick strides and slumping an arm around his shoulder as they began walking towards the egress. “I’m just glad you finally took initiative on your part,” she laughed meanly, “at this point I was just gonna offer you one of my lemans. One look at you and they’d accept out of pity.” Zuko clutched her forearm and slung it from his shoulder. “You rule over Mount Olympus,” he snapped, countenance mere inches from Azula’s. “Who is he?”

She quirked an eyebrow in a torporic expression. “A nuisance.” Her mouth widened in an audible yawn and she stepped beside Zuko, resuming the conversation as the latter scampered after her. “So is his mother. Katara’s the stingiest woman I’ve ever wooed. Perfect trait for harvesting!” The young man groaned slightly. “You mean snared. You _snare_ them, not woo.” Azula paused her stroll and grinned at Zuko balefully. “Exactly.” She pried the garden bestowed before them once they exited the last wicket of her chamber through narrow eyes, spotting the Narcissus flowers that resided within the leaves of the pot that secured them. “I have a plan.”

-

Aang distraitly kicked his legs beneath the surface of water that the naiads continued to play in, his fingers looping around the stems of the chaplet he was binding. “What’s that, Aang?” Kuzon asked, resting his chin upon drenched forearms next to where the other boy sat without removing himself from the river completely. “It’s for my mother. I wanted to give her something in return for allowing me to be here.” The nymph side-eyed him with visible leeriness. “She terrifies me. I don’t know how you put up with her.” Aang ignored the remark and placed the wreath onto his head.

“How does it look?” Kuzon gawked at the boy, percepting the ring of flowers that covered his depilation and the former began to stammer after noting his own prolonged silence. “Y-you look great! I mean- you always do, but… um. Did you summon those yourself?” Aang, nevertheless, disregarded his comment once more as his attention seemed to be entirely focused on the region occupying the river bank ahead of them.

Kuzon turned to the same direction in search for what the young deity was so mesmerized by yet was met with nothing. “Aang, you know you’re not supposed to wander beyond the shore.” The God of Spring remained silent, his chest heaving discernibly before he jumped into the stream with somewhat of a ‘plop.’ The other nymphs almost instantly halted their gamboling in concernment for Aang, who swam with desperate swerves of his arms across the river before mounting a rock on the other side of it.

He distantly heard various howls and screams of his name behind him when kneeling down in front of the yellow-tinted plant that had captured his gaze, instantly plucking it from the soil inhabiting patches of greenery. Aang barely noted the swelling hole from which he had pulled the flower before hearing a blaring rumble of the ground beneath him. 

The young deity inwardly panicked and felt himself stumbling back at the tremor, attempting to run back to the naiads that were spurring his retreat. What was once a hole that had evidenced his discovery soon grew into a gaping chasm of the earth that hindered his escape, and the nymphs awaiting him back at the stream riveted Aang in his tracks with the perturbed looks on their faces. The latter heard distant whacking sounds of reins approaching him from behind until one of the naiads discerned tears leaking from Kuzon’s eyes, hands remaining clutched around Aang’s chaplet.

 _We’re screwed_.

-

Katara squeezed her eyes until they hurt; limbs visibly trembling as she alternated between the clenching and unclenching of her fists while she paced along the river bank, overwhelmed with gall and vexation. “Where’s Kuzon?” she asked, nearly in a whisper as she ignored the repulsive sobs that emitted the nymphs who cowered before her, one of which sunk herself beneath the surface of the river so that she was only visible from the eyes up. “I thought he was his best _friend_.”

The naiads continued to choke between their stifled cries, irregular breathing momentarily replacing any sort of response before one of them twisted their face away from the Goddess. Katara’s brows furrowed with realization before she closed her eyes, followed by a loud grunt in emphasis of her embitterment.

“Whatever!” she yelled, “at least he did something productive with his tears, unlike the rest of you who might as well be bathing in him right now.” Katara was distantly taken aback at the audible trembling in her voice as she found herself kneeling in front of the weeping nymphs. “Now tell me…” she muttered lowly, “what happened to my _son?"_ A naiad swam towards her with perceptible hesitance and bestowed the woman above her with a ring of weaved flowers. 

“He wanted to give this to you,” she whispered without looking Katara in the eyes. “He said it was to thank you for allowing him to be here.” The latter apathetically stared at the overture situated beneath her before speaking once more. “Then it was clearly a mistake.” Muffled lamentations were soon morphed into blood-curdling screams and gurgling entreatments, the sound of beated wings permeating the cerulean sky against various squawks of sirens whose voices once belonged to that of jocular nymphs.

The cries that continued to sojourn audible to the empty air before Katara were her own, being left with nothing but consternation for her son and the remains of his best friend.

She only hoped that Aang hadn’t gone far.


	2. Chapter 2

The boy’s frame slightly trembled with each shudder against the cold, hard surface of the throne, body curled into a fetal position until the gentle weight of a blanket woke him up. A few blinks of his eyes were followed by frantic turns of his head before Zuko placed a tender palm over it. “Relax,” he coaxed, “you still seem heated up, I think you sho-” Aang interrupted the man before him with a smack upon his arm and a pugnacious removal of the blanket.

“Get away from me, you sick _creep!_ ” he screamed, hearing the distant flapping of fretful birds as he stumbled from the staircase bestowing the throne that he had slept on. Aang raced towards the gates that provided the threshold between the chamber he had already despised and the outside, banging against the handleless frames with distraught fists before one of the doors opened beside him. The young deity turned his head and was met with a more patent view of his abductor, who was not much older than himself and had a face that was very visibly marred across a mismatched eye.

Aang nearly gagged at the lesion and took advantage of his ‘helpful’ maneuver, fleeing the throne room with a desperate, accelerated sprint as bare feet squashed dead leaves with audible crunches. Malnourished deets of nature surrounded him, dispersed trees dodged when running and it didn’t take him long to comprehend that no progress was made for his escape.

The boy’s scuttle was halted to a stop as he was presented with an abounding view of the hatch the other God had allowed him to exude from. Aang stood there in silent revelation, feeling his lips begin to quiver and his legs starting to shake before the stance of his position grew unbalanced. His knees dropped to the infertile soil of a new earth he wasn’t quite familiar with yet as occasional snivels turned into full-blown sobs.

He felt his bawling become muffled through the weight of a chest gently pressed against his face, sturdy arms enveloping his frame as he allowed himself to lean into the comfort of this wretched man. “I-I hate it h-h-here.” Aang’s morose state of being completely detonated the usual chipper pitch of his voice. “I w-want to go _home_.”

Zuko pecked a kiss atop of his head while he proceeded to cradle the young deity. “I know,” he whispered consolingly, ignoring the wrinkling of his raiment Aang had fisted into for some sort of reassurance. Eventually, he stopped crying.

-

Katara took the warm teacup from the older man with trembling hands. She peered at Iroh under bloated eyelids and mussed, unbrushed hair as the latter poured steaming tea into his own cup. “I’m just glad we met before you allowed anything worse to happen to you.” The Goddess remained unresponsive, sipping from her pint pot before her croaky voice finally emanated into the cavern.

“I have roamed Earth for nine days,” she disclosed, “no mortal or nymph I have threatened was able to explain what happened to my son.” The God of the Sun nodded indiscernibly and couldn’t seem to tear his eyes away from the wreath that occupied Katara’s head. “Coincidentally, I’ve witnessed a young man be taken against his will this past week.”

Heated water nearly splashed onto the ground as the woman jerked the teacup away from her lips. “Perhaps it might be Aang.” She leaned forward with enticement. “Was he with anyone?” Iroh nodded. “Naiads. A black chariot emerged from the river bank near them and the boy was gone.” Confusion shifted to revelation across Katara’s face before settling on devout rage, placing her teacup onto the ground before flouncing towards the egress of the tunnel, a trail of lifeless, scattered wheat following suit amongst the cave.

“Wait! There’s something else you should know.” Katara averted her gaze back to Iroh, who had an arm raised at her direction in an effort to halt her. “I overheard Azula granting her brother permission to abduct a God by the same name in Mount Olympus.” The woman proceeded to stare at him temporarily before closing her eyes and sighing. “Thanks for your help Iroh.”

-

Zuko knocked on the doorframe, perceptibly hesitant before speaking aloud. “Aang, I can’t just have food delivered to your bedroom everyday, you have to co-” The sound of his voice instantly enraged the boy from the other side of the hatch, and Aang interrupted his cajoling with a yell. “I don’t want anything to do with you!” Zuko squeezed his eyes shut, gritting his teeth in repression of his anger. “...And that’s fine. It’s just that a domain of mine needs some overhauling, and I think the God of Spring himself could help me out with it.” He heard no reply, and his palm slid from the doorframe in defeat before walking away. “Whenever you’re ready.”

Aang groaned and clutched the sides of his head with both hands out of irritation. He disliked spending the majority of his time in here almost as much as seeing or even hearing Zuko, and he hadn’t exactly developed his skills as a God yet. His curiosity and itch for freedom eventually overcame his determination to spite the other man, and he reluctantly unlocked the door.

The young deity ignored Zuko’s delighted expression as he walked by him, later similarly leaning his cheek against the blunt of his palm during the ride to their destination. The chariot ultimately arrived at a pasture of halfway decaying verdure and similarly afflicted souls that roamed it. “Here resides the most excellent of mortals Earth has to offer.” Aang grimaced. _Well that’s just sad_.

Zuko reached down and plucked a shriveled leucanthemum from the ground, twiddling the stem in between his fingers in front of Aang. “The Elysian Fields have been sucked of its beauty and health due to the lack of fertility on Earth.” The latter quirked an indifferent eyebrow at the other God. “A sudden plague has swept the mortals of their harvest season and now their deaths are reflected upon this realm of the Underworld. As my consort it is your duty to replenish it.”

Aang’s heedlessness was replaced with a confused expression as he took the flower from Zuko’s hand. “Even if I _choose_ to, how am I even going to do it?” The older deity bestowed him with a smile. “Why don’t you find out for yourself?” Aang closed his eyes and inhaled deeply before hovering his hand over the leucanthemum, turned his palm over it and drew it upward.

The plant immediately flooded with salubrity, its petals blooming and the God of Spring temporarily forgot he was cross with Zuko, beaming as he placed it back into the hole of which it was plucked. “Look!” he gasped. The grass that surrounded the flower had similarly sprouted and Aang scampered after the next flower with enthusiasm, overlooking Zuko’s elated face and the latter distantly thought that he hadn’t smiled that wide in a long time.

-

“I know about your _blessing_ , Azula!” Katara hissed, her enraged countenance inches away from Azula’s unamused one. “I’m not like your other flings, so stop getting other Gods to bribe me out of my remorse for our son!” The latter remained silent with visible indifference, leaning against the bench in the midst of her garden as arms draped across the top of its back rest.

Azula then smirked and decided to dignify the woman in front of her with cautious heed. She stood up from the seat and began continuing their discussion as she walked towards her manor. “My lonely, poor forsaken brother might take offense to that,” she remarked, “and I don’t think Aang misses your constant nitpicking.” Katara grew impatient and quickly halted Azula’s stroll by standing in front of her. “I’m not asking for much, judging by how little your children are of worth to you. Just give me back my son and I’ll rid Earth of its drought.”

The Goddess of Thunder barked out a laugh to further irk the other woman. “Speaking of kids, do you think he’s having his own right now? I always took Aang for a screamer.” That does it. Katara raised an arm with the intention of smacking Azula across her face before the latter swiftly grasped it. “Relax. I’ll talk to Zuko soon.” Katara bestowed her with an indignant snarl.

Both deities were now in the chamber of Azula’s abode and Katara halted near the staircase leading to the former’s throne, who began walking towards it with discernible complacency. “It’s only been a week and a half. I’ll send Ty Lee to inform Zuko that I rescinded our deal.” Azula sat down on her throne and crossed her legs with poise.

“Really? No thank you? Nothing?” Katara clenched her fists, arms trembling before they eventually relaxed as she gathered up all of her self-control and bestowed the woman before her with a salaam. “Thank you.”


	3. Chapter 3

Aang remained slumped on the throne beside Zuko’s, feet dangling off an armrest as his upper back reclined against the other while sprouting various flowers from a sheet of moss he contorted with his fingers. The boy had refused to look at Zuko for more than a few seconds whenever talking to him, a self-allotment nearly broken as Aang distraitly heard proposals of different ways to scourge some of the other God’s ‘residents.’

The spirit arguing with Zuko beneath them was a gorgeous Erinye with lengthy bangs and a scowl almost as daunting as his husband’s. She evoked an indignant snarl from the latter with a dismissive jibe before walking away and Aang halfway grinned with satisfaction.

Zuko sighed, rubbing the side of his head with the pressure of two fingers until turning to face the God of Spring. “You got more acquainted with your powers,” he noted with an elfin smile. “Since you’re very good at them, maybe you should make the Graeae some chaplets.” Aang instantly grimaced at the last word that emitted his mouth; the blurred image of his weeping mother that had been haunting him pierced his mind and he couldn’t refrain from the high-pitched yell that echoed the chamber.

“I don’t owe _you_ or anyone else in this wretched place _anything!_ ” the young deity screamed, absentmindedly standing up on the rump of his oversized seat. “I was taken from my mother against my will. If you really cared about me then you’d change that!” The plants that he had morphed with jocular intent dissipated under the grip of his fist to emphasize his anger.

Zuko’s brow furrowed in consternation and his mouth felt dry the moment he opened it. “I… I know, but-” Aang couldn’t care less what the other had to say at the moment. “Everyone in Mount Olympus wondered how you two were even related, but now I don’t see a difference.” The older deity immediately winced at the insinuation of ‘you two.’ Aang huffed under mitigation of his outburst. “No wonder you’ve never been with anyone before. Your face resembles that of a rapist.”

Before he had any time to heed the other God lunging towards him, Aang felt the stinging sensation of tight palms latching onto his smaller wrists. “Y-you’re _hurting_ me!” he halfway exclaimed, his voice audibly hoarse as if he was being choked instead of slightly manhandled.

His forearms were practically riveted in place as he went eye to eye with Zuko, who had gotten up from his throne and brutishly yanked him forward so Aang could look into a beautiful, malicious pair of golden orbs. “Let’s take a trip.”

Dark hues of blue and violet whirled around both deities in rapid streaks until the boy could no longer see anything but Zuko’s amber irises in contrast to the shades of tincture behind them. A blink of Aang’s eyes were soon followed by the contact his body made against palpy dirt.

The God of Spring grunted from the sudden fall and slowly tilted his head up to be met with the view of an eerily calm, massive body of water. Fulgent silhouettes of renounced souls illuminated the near pitch-black surface of the stream and it didn’t take Aang long to realize that he was tossed onto the shore of one of Zuko’s rivers by the back of his shawl.

 _He was done being the bigger person, as wrong as that sounded_.

“This is where the cause of my rape-face _lives!_ ” Zuko bellowed, faint howls of the deceased rippling the water of which they resided. “There was an omen that a child of Ozai was going to overthrow him, so he planned to consume me and my siblings in order to rescind it.” His blaring, woeful voice reflected that of a furrowed brow near dejected, mismatched eyes. “I was the first one to be swallowed after my birth. To wane my mother further, he burned my face.”

Aang wanted to envelop the man before him in an avalanche of comfort and reassurance a hug could never do. Nearly all of Olympus withstood the pain or negligence inflicted upon them by their fathers and the young God couldn’t bear to know that another stranger was the result of it.

“Lu Ten and I were devoured but Azula eluded his wrath with the help of our mother, who hid her on Mount Ida. My brother and I managed to survive through the disgorging of Ozai’s stomach.” Zuko’s chest visibly heaved with irregular breathing yet tears couldn’t seem to exude his eyes. “That’s _awful_ ,” Aang whispered in solacement. His consolation was barely audible but a part of him knew that the God of Death himself took it to heart. “My father is in there. The River Styx.”

Both deities stared at the stream before them with barren verdict before Zuko heard stifled chokes and snivels from the direction of his consort. The back of Aang’s shoulders hefted with every despondent noise he made and the other God scurried after him fretfully.

The boy was looking down at his forearms parallel to each other, wrists mapped with shades of purple resulting from Zuko’s earlier physical torrent. If his remembrance of the past didn’t push the latter to the edge of his self-controlled sorrow, then this did.

Zuko burst into a series of repulsive, throttled sobs as he draped his upper body over Aang’s, encircling him with gentle arms as to not repeat the same error that was currently slapping him across the face. Aang shortly felt the older deity detach himself from his frame before quaking lips pecked themselves repeatedly onto the fading hue of his wrists, kissing the boy through his whimpers until Zuko’s violent cries soon adjourned.

“I never should have seized you the way I did. I-I’m a _terrible_ lover. You have suffered ever since you left Earth. I’m so lonely… and you’re j-just _so_ beautiful. So pretty, I just wanted some _love_ …” Aang ceased his stuttered avowals through the graze of his thumb across his scar, cradling that side of his face with a tender palm before the boy pecked a kiss upon the lesion.

“I know,” he assured him, turning his head slightly to press his lips onto Zuko’s. The latter returned the kiss and they both sat there on rather squelchy ground in the midst of the dismal cavern the God of Death possessed. He was the first to conclude the kiss by gently pressing his forehead against Aang’s, who smiled widely. “I’m taking you home soon,” Zuko avered, “I’ll make sure of it.”

He stood up and brushed himself off before extending his arm out to Aang, who allowed the older deity to pull him back on his feet. “Why that’s chivalrous of you,” the God of Spring tittered back a giggle, “are you letting me name our demigod too?” He burst into pillored laughter. Zuko briefly thought of shoving him back onto the ground but just smiled instead (indiscernibly).

“Look, Aang,” Zuko rejoined, “what I did has hurt you. Undoubtedly. As well as your mother, and if it makes you two feel any better, I’d probably let her fling me towards the sun if Iroh allows it. I’m not asking this of you to make me feel better, since I don’t deserve it, but…” He descried Aang’s expression with cautious scrutiny. The typical innocence emanating the youthful, pretty face of a deity-in-training almost leads him to think that this whole situation was worth it if it meant gazing into his eyes. “Will you forgive me?”

Aang remained imperceptible until his lips slowly curved upwards into a smile. “I think I will.”

-

Aang’s back leaned against the massive right leg of Zuko’s throne, who was currently rebuking a subordinate for matters that would no longer concern the God of Spring. He was busy weaving up a dainty chaplet for Zuko before the day (or night- he could never tell) was over. After the other God had finished conversing with his subaltern, Aang mounted his lap and placed the wreath on top of his head.

Tresses of serrated hair caught in between the stems of which had intertwined each other, but Zuko didn’t mind. He grinned and pressed his lips against the young deity’s, grazing his arm across his back as the other wrapped nimble arms around his neck.

“Uh- wow. I don’t think Katara is going to be too happy about this.” Both men abruptly detached themselves from each other and instantly turned their heads towards the direction of a chipper, feminine voice.

“Ty Lee!?" Zuko nearly shrieked, “how do you know who he is? Did Azula tell you? What does she want?” The Herald of Gods raised both of her forearms up to placate him. “She rescinded her deal. Katara really pushed her over the edge, it seems.” Aang and Zuko glanced at each other. “So, you’re here to pick me up?” the former asked, reluctance visible in his voice. “Yes.”

Aang absentmindedly twiddled his fingers with the older God’s as he stared at the ground before perking his head up abruptly. “C-can we have a moment?” Ty Lee smiled with an indifferent shrug. Aang placed his hands on Zuko’s shoulders, countenance somewhat desperate as he searched for comprehension in the latter’s gaze. “I love my mother,” he declared, “obviously. But I know for sure that she’ll keep delaying my need to be primed. And…” The young deity bestowed him another one of his pretty smiles. “I still want to be a part of your life.”

Zuko stared down at him with impassivity before smirking perniciously. “I have an idea. Stay here.” He walked off towards one of the side rooms of the chamber before arriving back to his throne with a plump woolen sack of who knows what. The God of Death handed Aang the pouch and whispered something in his ear. The latter slowly grinned before the two of them shared a kiss.


	4. Chapter 4

Katara placed the narcissus onto the surface of the water and closed her eyes. Her ankles twitched uncomfortably under the prolonged weight of her legs and she slightly leaned over the nymph that once succored Aang. She then felt the sudden pressure of a wet figure and she opened her eyes to the sight of an elated Aang, his clothes drenched from the river that he had sprouted from.

He and his mother rejoiced for countless minutes, either leaning into each other’s embrace or practically frolicing around one another in gaiety. Aang found himself resting with Katara atop the hill near the river bank they were recently at, staring at the sunset through half-lidded eyes until the latter subtly shifted next to him.

“Did you eat anything he gave you… by any chance?” Aang averted his gaze towards Katara with an apologetic expression before the woman shortly raised a hand to cover it over her mouth in revelation.

-

Katara couldn’t seem to stop clenching her fists, imprinting little red crescents into her flesh. Such an act seemed to be expected whenever she was near Azula. “I’m getting real sick of your _deceits_ , woman.” She proceeded to bestow her with the most pernicious face she could possibly muster up. “Relieve my son of this so-called _law_ or I’ll make sure you won’t lay eyes on any living mortal you hassle on Earth!”

Azula gripped the edge of her throne’s armrest and pressed against the skin of her head with two fingers in a circular motion as she groaned under irritation. The dictum of pomegranate seeds was definitely a stupid rule she enacted, if she were to make any civic mistakes. Of _course_ Zuko was going to use that against her. He was probably more crafty than she had taken him for, it seems.

“Look,” she placated Katara with a sigh, “pomegranate seeds coerce their devourer to go back to where they were eaten, it doesn’t force the person to stay there permanently. I can’t just bend the rule because you happen to dislike someone.”

The woman beneath her looked as if she already decided to execute her threat and Azula found herself briefly intimidated by it. _She would never display it, though_. “Doesn’t matter. I still hate it. Repeal the law.”

Azula’s free hand abruptly landed onto the other armrest with an audible thud. “Did you just hear what I-” She held her tongue in sudden remembrance of mortals that had roamed the once-prosperous globe and almost snarled before regaining self-control and reclining against the backseat of the throne. The Goddess gave Katara a nearly indiscernible smile as the tips of her fingers made contact from either hand.

“Aang seems awfully quiet,” she broached, tipping her head slightly to the side for emphasis. “Why don’t you ask him what _he_ thinks?” Aang continued to look at the ground, briefly noting the unsettling countenance his mother bestowed him with from the corner of his eye. “He’s really not as bad as he seems,” he halfway whispered, already perturbed at whatever reaction Katara might splurge out at him.

“Oh _no_.” His mother quickly kneeled in front of him so they could meet each other at eye-level, palms almost painfully clutching his shoulders. “He’s already gotten into your head, has he?” Aang grimaced in dubiety of her statement. “What? No, mother, it’s just- Being in the Underworld has allowed me to practice my abilities in ways being up here never could. I just really don’t want to lose that chance.”

Katara remained deadpan for a moment, unlike Azula, who was almost amusingly perturbed at the confession. “I’m still going to visit you, aren’t I?” He glanced up at the Goddess of Thunder, who continued to gape at the overture before nodding in affirmation.

The Goddess of Harvest closed her eyes and slowly stood up before turning to Azula, furrowing her brows in an adamant expression. “The next time you see Zuko, I want you to give him an experience more dreadful than how he got that ugly face of his.”

Azula halfway chuckled with a nod bestowed upon the other woman. “You didn’t need to tell me. I was already planning to.”

-

The young deity looped his fingers beneath Zuko’s tresses with indubitable grace, unable to titter a giggle as the latter tickled the underside of his knee impishly. Braiding his hair was difficult for Aang; the pitch-black strands were long enough to do it but the outlines were nearly imperceptible to act upon the section that followed. The looks on Zuko’s subordinates when they see this, however, will be worth the trouble.

The Elysian Fields prospered now more than ever, various plants that occupied the meadows altered from blossoming flowers to Tamarisk trees, and the surrounding ecosystem of where the pair was resting almost seemed out of place for Zuko to reside in.

“I hope you’re happy,” the God of Death muttered, “Mai is never going to let this go. Neither will the other Erinyes after she tells them.” Aang grinned and suddenly yanked the hair in his hands towards him, eliciting a small yelp from Zuko.

“Good,” the boy remarked, ignoring the reproachful look Zuko had given him from beneath his fingers that twisted the braid. The latter’s indignant expression shifted to a pleased one after Aang pecked a kiss upon his forehead. “You deserve it.”


End file.
